August, 2009 | I'm Surrounded By Idiots

Ouch, and I thought VCU was bad.

How much does it cost to get a parking permit at D.C. area colleges? A lot according to The Washington Post:

Parking might be more available on campuses in some parts of the country, but in an urban setting such as Washington it comes at a high price. The AAA survey of area colleges found that the annual student parking fee at Howard University was $240. A permit for the general parking lot at George Mason University cost $225. At American University, it cost an estimated $964 to park on a Nebraska Avenue lot. In College Park, the University of Maryland charges $412 for those who live on campus and $213 for those who commute daily to school.

George Washington University students pay $550 a semester for a parking decal, and students who commute to Georgetown University pay $656 a semester to park at satellite lots in Rosslyn.

At VCU you get to pay $126 for a parking slot at their lot in the 400 block of W. Grace Street and then you get to walk half a mile to any classroom (which wouldn’t be that bad if it wasn’t for the heat and humidity).

The Free Lance–Star gets the location of Representative Rob Wittman’s (R-1st) Fredericksburg town hall meeting wrong.

UPDATE: The Free Lance–Star has since updated its story and now shows the correct location of the meeting.

The Free Lance–Star is reporting in today’s edition that Representative Rob Wittman’s (R-1st) town hall meeting for the Fredericksburg area will be held in the Sealy Auditorium at Germanna Community College.

WRONG.

While the town hall meeting was originally scheduled for GCC, Wittman’s website now notes the location as the following:

Date: Tuesday, September 1st

Times: 6:00PM to 8:00PM*

Location:

Univeristy of Mary Washington

Dodd Auditorium

1301 College Avenue

Fredericksburg, VA 22401

*Please continue to check the website for updates as these meeting times, dates and locations may be updated.

I previously noted the location changed on my own blog on August 21st, but apparently The Free Lance–Star didn’t notice the change.

And as a precaution, if you’re of those folks that likes to bring a firearm to town hall meetings, you best leave it in your car (which better not be parked on University of Mary Washington property) unless you want to be spending the night in jail since the event is on University property.

Cross-posted at Virginia Virtucon.

Rob Wittman condemns Catherine Crabill, refuses to support or endorse her candidacy.

The Free Lance–Star:

Rep. Rob Wittman has joined other top Republican leaders in the state who are shunning Catherine T. Crabill, a controversial candidate for the Northern Neck’s seat in the House of Delegates.

Wittman spokesman Steve Stampley said last week that the congressman from Montross will endorse neither Crabill nor incumbent Albert Pollard, D-Lancaster, in the race for the House seat Wittman once held.

Wittman also has no plans to appear with Crabill at campaign events or to donate money to her campaign, Stampley said.

I wonder what R. Allen Webb will have to say about this latest development. Maybe he’ll see the writing on the wall now.

Probably not, but I’ve always been an optimist. And I have no idea why in this particular case give previous actions by people in the 99th district.

Cross-posted at Virginia Virtucon.

Rob Wittman changes location of Fredericksburg area townhall.

It was originally scheduled to be at Germanna Community College, now it’s at the University of Mary Washington:

Date: Tuesday, September 1st

Times: 6:00PM to 8:00PM*

Location:

Univeristy of Mary Washington

Dodd Auditorium

1301 College Avenue

Fredericksburg, VA 22401

The next time that he decides to change the location of a meeting, it might be help if he sent out a separate e-mail, or posted a separate update on his website, noting the location change…

Introducing the Catherine Crabill blacklist.

Because these people shouldn’t be allowed to vote, much less be involved in a serious political party. And these people should be made aware in absolute terms that their support for this embarrassment of a candidate will be remembered and there will be repercussions for it.

Feel free to add names in the comments section for anyone I forgot.

No one on this list should be allowed to hold an position in any Republican committee or ever be nominated or endorsed by a Republican committee. Members include:

R. Allen Webb. Chairman, 99th Legislative District Republican Committee; Chairman, 28th Senatorial District Republican Committee; Chairman, Grass-roots Steering Committee for Catherine Crabill’s campaign. UPDATE: Webb is also a member of the First Congressional District Republican Committee and the Republican State Central Committee as James Cupp pointed out in the comments section.

Bill Kling. Catherine Crabill’s campaign manager.

Larry Kile. Chairman, King George County Republican Committee. Huge supporter of Crabill’s campaign.

James Cupp provides a few more names:

Jeanne Kling. Wife of “Badwater Bill” Kling; Chairwoman, Northumberland County Republican Committee; Confirmed supporter of Crabill campaign, as evidenced by Letter to the Editor published in Northumberland Echo, Northern Neck News, and Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star.

Jim Spiess. Convicted felon (unlawful wounding); Convicted dog killer (by poisoning with strychnine); Apparent leader of 99th District TEA Party; Owner, River Pools and Spas, Tappahannock, Virginia (”Catch the wave!”); Virulent promoter of Crabill campaign.

Hopefully Allen Webb steers her campaign right into the Chesapeake Bay.

Or the Potomac, or the Rappahannock for that matter. According to a press release from Catherine Crabill’s campaign:

R. Allen Webb, of King George, chairman of the 99th Legislative District Republican Committee, has been named to head the grass-roots steering committee of Catherine Crabill’s GOP campaign for the district’s seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in the Nov. 3 general election.

Blah, blah, blah, read the whole thing at Fred2Blue.

NOTE: In no way should the title be construed as a threat of violence. I just wish this embarrassment would be over with.

Cash for clunkers: Nothing like using Chinese money to boost Japanese businesses.

Not that I have anything against the Chinese or Japanese — alright, I might have something against the Chinese government — but it’s absolutely hilarious that the United States government is using Chinese money (from the debt they buy) to boost sales of Japanese businesses (from the Financial Times):

The US’s cash-for-clunkers scheme, designed to bolster Detroit’s embattled carmakers, is turning out to be an even bigger boon for their Japanese rivals.

According to data published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Monday, Americans are using the scrappage incentives to buy more vehicles from Toyota than any of the three Detroit carmakers

Toyota has an 18.9 per cent share of vehicles bought so far, putting it ahead of General Motors with 17.6 per cent and Ford with 15.4 per cent. Chrysler is in fifth place, after Honda.

Getting the government you deserve every day since January 20, 2009…

H/t: Matt “threat to democracy” Drudge.

Cross-posted at Virginia Virtucon.

My thoughts in re Catherine Crabill.

It looks like some of the state Republican bigwigs have finally realized how bad having someone like Catherine Crabill as a Republican nominee is according to The WaPo:

No, Bob McDonnell is not attending an upcoming fundraiser with Republican House of Delegates candidate Catherine Crabill. Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling won’t be there either. Attorney general candidate Ken Cuccinelli II also will not appear with Crabill.

In fact, the Republican Party of Virginia has formally decided it will be giving Crabill no support for her campaign against Del. Albert Pollard, and chairman Pat Mullins has sent word to Crabill that he would prefer that she step aside and not run for the seat.

The folks at the Democratic Party of Virginia rightly had this say in a single-sentence statement: “Why did it take 29 days?”

A better question, however, is why did it take them 124 days since her belief that the federal government was responsible for the Oklahoma City Bombing was publicized on this blog, to repudiate her as a Republican?

This is an unmitigated disaster for Republicans and it never should have gotten to this point. No one involved in this situation has displayed an inkling of leadership in dealing with the problems presented by having this nut running for office.

All it should have taken was one person, just one, coming out before the committee met and nominated her, to stop this whole situation from becoming a problem. And it didn’t have to be — and shouldn’t have to have been — Bob McDonnell’s, Bill Bolling’s, or Ken Cuccinelli’s campaign.

Pat Mullins, then-interim Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, or Speaker Bill Howell, or Republican House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, or even State Senator for the Northern Neck, Richard Stuart or Congressman Rob Wittman could have done it.

But none of them set up to the plate and did it. And now, we’re left with this nut as a nominee. Instead of finding a candidate that could given a Pollard a run for his money and possibly have beaten him, we have a nut that will receive 10% of the vote (at most) in one of the most Republican-friendly districts in the state.

And she’s not going to step down, she made that clear as the convention.

And it gets worst: The 99th Legislative Direct Republican Committee’s Chairman, Allen Webb, has sent out an e-mail saying that he will continue to support Crabill’s candidacy and if the committee doesn’t like that, they can remove him. Here’s hoping they do.

There should have been someone else out there telling the Republicans that this nominee was going to be a disaster. Someone besides me and a couple of other bloggers.

H/t: Fred2Blue.